A3-0096/94

Resolution on information and publicity measures to be carried out by the Member States concerning assistance from the Structural Funds and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG)

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Article 32 of Regulation (EEC) 2082/93 on coordination of the activities of the Structural Funds, hereinafter referred to as the 'coordination regulation',

-having regard to paragraph 5 of the Commission's declaration on a code of conduct for the implementation of structural policies,

-having regard to the Interinstitutional Declaration of 25 October 1993 and its resolution of 17 November 1993 on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity,

-having regard to the draft Commission decision concerning information and publicity measures to be carried out by the Member States concerning assistance from the Structural Funds and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) (C3-0031/94),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Policy, Regional Planning and Relations with Regional and Local Authorities (A3-0096/94),

A.whereas in its draft the Commission sets the objective of promoting greater awareness and transparency in Community actions and defines the sphere of activity as including the Community support frameworks and operational programmes, without however referring to the provisions of Article 32(1) of the coordination regulation concerning the publicity to be given to development plans by the Member States; whereas publicity of this kind is thus left to the discretion of the Member States,

B.whereas transparency in the actions of the Community and the Member States with regard to the Structural Funds is vital in order to:

(a)encourage wider use of Community assistance and improve its effectiveness through the involvement of local authorities and social forces in line with the principle of partnership;

(b)help strengthen public support for the process of building Europe,

(c)help foster a discerning attitude and vigilance among the public at large,

C.whereas the text of the coordination regulation, as proposed by the Commission, provided for the Member States to be responsible for the publicity to be given to development plans before they were submitted for consideration to the Commission,

D.whereas Parliament, in adopting a number of amendments improving the text at first reading, stressed the need to enhance the timeliness and effectiveness of information on the plans, support frameworks and operational programmes, so as to enable those concerned to play an active role,

1.Notes that the Commission's draft fails to take account of Parliament's position and focuses on simple publicity rather than information, and on retrospective information rather than the information that should accompany the planning and implementation of fund assistance right from the stage when development plans are drawn up;

2.Is convinced that, in drawing up the support frameworks, which, it must be remembered, are established on the basis of development plans and in accordance with the principle of partnership, proper and timely information concerning the outline for the development plans is vital, particularly when they also include proposals for assistance for operational plans and the Commission is required to adopt a single decision;

3.Considers that the notification procedure provided for in the Interinstitutional Declaration on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity should enable the Commission to take the initiative in implementing the provisions of Article 32(1) of the coordination regulation by publishing in the Official Journal a brief summary of the Community support framework it intends to adopt, together with an outline of the development plan on which the framework is based;

4.Considers it essential to intensify the measures designed to ensure the dissemination of information about the procedures and administrative requirements to be met by potential public and private recipients of Structural Fund assistance with regard to the bodies responsible at different levels; believes, therefore, that a more direct relationship between Commission officials and regional and local authorities should be fostered and encouraged, for example by holding seminars and information meetings at the Commission and in the various regional and local entities;

5.Considers that information on Community action should cover not only assistance from the Structural Funds included in the Community support frameworks, but also Community initiatives and programmes and policies which can or do contribute to the objective of economic and social cohesion; efforts should accordingly be made to encourage the setting up of genuine information networks on a regional basis concerning all instruments and policies which are, or may be, used in the field of economic and social cohesion, including the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund, Community initiatives, aid to SMEs, the Edinburgh facility, EIB and ECSC loans, European investment funds, structural policies and programmes; these information networks on economic and social cohesion could draw on the experience gained by the Euro Info Centres, but should also be aimed particularly at regional and local authorities and social forces and act as a source of information for the mass media;

6.Is convinced that the Committee of the Regions can play an important role in putting together an information strategy designed to encourage participation by local and regional authorities and social forces in the management of the Structural Funds and regional and cohesion policies in general; the Committee should be equipped with the necessary structures and should serve as the main focal point for information coming from the Community institutions and Member States and as one of the main channels of information for regions and local bodies and the mass media;

7.Calls for the necessary steps to be taken to enable the Committee of the Regions, regional and local bodies, and social forces to have access to Commission data banks (such as ARINCO (Structural Funds) and PRECOM (Community loans)) and those operated by Parliament (Legislative Observatory); considers that these data banks, given the appropriate specific input, could do much to ensure that up-to-date information was promptly and widely disseminated on Community policies, especially those related to cohesion;

8.Calls on the Commission to adapt its draft decision on information and publicity for Structural Fund assistance as far as possible to the suggestions and requirements set out above and to take appropriate measures if these concerns cannot be accommodated in the decision; calls in particular for the draft to be supplemented and amended with a view to:

-requesting the Member States to comply with Article 32(1) of the coordination regulation;

-using the notification procedure provided for in the Interinstitutional Declaration on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity in order to provide information on the contents of Community support frameworks that the Commission intends to adopt and on the outline of the development plans on which they are based;

-ensuring compliance with Directive 90/313/EEC on the freedom of access to information on the environment with the aim of bringing greater transparency to the implementation of Structural Fund assistance;

-requesting national and regional authorities to adopt and coordinate measures to provide information on Structural Funds and other cohesion policy instruments, with a view to establishing genuine information networks on economic and social cohesion policies;

-ensuring that representatives of the European institutions attend any public events connected with Structural Fund assistance;

-requesting national and regional authorities to ensure that more detailed information is provided concerning the environmental impact assessments carried out in connection with the strategy and measures proposed in the Community support frameworks, having regard to the principles of sustainable development;

-broadening the objectives of the draft decision by including measures to improve the efficiency of Community aid and compliance with the principle of partnership;

-drawing up and introducing measures to ensure proper distribution of the annual report referred to in Article 31 of the coordination regulation and the results of the consultations with the social partners at European level provided for in the same article;

-strengthening the provisions of section 4 of the annex to the draft decision, which should be entitled 'information on Community assistance', notably by including measures to facilitate the provision of information on administrative requirements to public, regional and local bodies and to the private sector, bearing in mind that this is the only paragraph which deals with the question of information proper, as opposed to simple publicity;

9.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission.